As part of the online movement #amplifymelanatedvoices started by @jessicawilson.msrd and @blackandembodied I've muted my instagram feed until the 7th June to allow space and learn from BIPOC voices right now. As well as to reflect on current, recent and past events and to educate myself about black history in in the States and to unpack my white privilege and experience. I will be sharing content in my stories on instagram to amplify BIPOC voices. I stand in solidarity with everyone speaking out against racism, inequality, injustice and brutality. This movement has created much needed reflection and learning from lived experiences. Please do follow along with the movement and check out the feeds that I'll sharing from the BIPOC community. For white people now is the timing to be listening and learning.
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The idea is that when people spend a long time together as a couple or in a group, they rely on each other to remember something that is also important to themselves. I love the idea that there are parts of our thoughts, memories and experiences stored in the minds of people we love. Essentially I suppose it tackles the importance of feeling part of something else, or belonging to a community. At first my interest in creating double in my artwork felt to be about exploring two identities an old one in the country I grew up in and the new country. The experience of mirroring also comes to mind, where the parents of a child are tasked with feeding back facial expressions as feelings or experiences, so that the baby can start to make sense of their feelings and responses. I like the playfulness of these buffaloes, they seem to be thinking about a shared memory or thought, something amusing maybe.
In recent months I have been working mainly on embroideries, zooming in on the unique details of insects, plants and animals. These play a huge role in identity. With these embroideries I have been exploring aspects of familiarity and otherness and the smallest parts that make a whole. As I work on local plants and creatures, I learn about folklore, history and the simplicity of shape and forms around me. Moths and butterflies represent transformation, the capacity to go through and survive huge changes in a lifetime. Beetles represent strength and community, the ability to get huge things done when working together. In moving countries I have experienced being an outsider, which has raised many complicated feelings around identity and what makes us who we are. As I zoom in ever closer to the inner workings of plants and insects, I am in a process of delving into the microscopic details within beings. Becoming acquainted with the political environment in a new country and seeing your own country from a birds eye view is an important and at times uncomfortable experience. There are so many intricacies to who we are, what we do and how we interact with others. In all the tiny pieces that make up the final design in my embroideries I'm reminded of how easy it is to forget these when looking on the design as a whole. Seeing society as a powerful singular organism makes it easy to lose sight of the millions of individuals who make up a city, a country, the world, but each dot carries weight, each dot has the capacity to transform, to make changes.
I've just finished working on a chair for our latest Winnicott Wednesdays Project. The chair stands as the art object, exploring elements of group and individual symbolism in relation to our places in the group. This chair only just stands out against the black as a watery imprint resonating with my geographical distance from the group currently. The thread leaves a mark on the chair in my absence, clinging on to part of a presence. Chairs are full of symbolism around having or not having a place, being provided with a space to rest or sit or your voice being valued at a table or meeting. Being included with this project felt important, representing my part in the group, even though far away. Often, in the context of an art therapy group, a chair will still be present in a group member's absence, marking their absence and acknowledging their continued part of the group. http://winnicottwednesdays.weebly.com Being new to the USA I am encountering all sorts of different animals in reality and in symbolism. I'm using lino to explore each animal, delving into their folklore universally and locally. This print, 'Wapiti' is based on the Shawnee name for Elk. There is a well known legend that links Elk to love and music. In the legend a boy is in love with a girl and doesn't know how to tell her, two elk visit him in his dream and give him a flute, so that he can share how he feels with music. Wapiti, Lino, 20x15cm When thinking about society as an organism I started to explore the herd as a symbol. Herd behaviour is described generally as how individuals in a group can act collectively without an intended direction. A group of animals fleeing a predator shows the nature of herd behaviour, there is no collaboration within the group and it provokes a panic response. I am interested in how this relates to the heightened fear within politics, responses and what these mean for the world. The environment is also threatened in many ways from global warming, nature's struggles and the impact of human development on animal populations and balance, possibly triggering waves of uncertainty and primal fears around limited resources and survival. I have started working on a piece which explores the potential for everyone to be both hunter or hunted, fearful or fear provoking and how these are interlinked. Continuing my use of owls as messengers, I have used these as the central point which I will expand on by including wolves and deer within the image. The title 'you are me and you are not' refers to the blurred lines between people and how easy it is to become what you are against in response to feeling threatened. Those who may see themselves as open minded may become narrow minded for example. This also relates to the political polarisation that has occurred in recent years, it becomes hard to see or understand different views, where lines are drawn between people. Using the herd as a symbol, I am interested in how the organism has many movements within it, pulling in different directions, but when one individual or group moves, the whole direction is shifted. The circle around the owls for the herd is based on the snake that eats its own tail in ancient Egyptian mythology, the response to fear of running in no particular direction causing waves of movement relates to cyclical patterns and also to self-destruction. These unfinished embroideries mark the start of working within these themes. The form of embroidery and tapestries inspired the use of thread and stitching. Tapestries were and are a form of sharing ideas and narratives. Due to their transportable nature they were also more widely accessible when compared to other forms of art. Tapestries have often been a platform for reflection, marking historical events, stories and observations of current issues. For more thoughts on the narrative nature and history of this art form see... https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2014/tapestry-as-news
On moving to the USA, although a very different climate, there are similarities with the disconnection felt between Republicans and Democrats following the elections in 2017. I was struck by the rage, frustration, powerlessness and fears of being misunderstood in me and others that political movements in recent years have had in various places and the tendency for political polarisation to give rise to more racism, division and classism.
We took in a couple of abandoned baby squirrels (about 6 weeks old) the other day and they were absolutely magic. We tried to re-unite them with their mother, but there was no sign of her. They are now living in a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center in Boulder, CO. So this drawing is in admiration of these little creatures. Please follow the link at the bottom to know what to do if you come across some baby squirrels and for how to donate to rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife. We share the world with all sorts of creatures and every now and then we are lucky enough to be this close to them. "The squirrel is famous in Norse legend as a mischief-maker and in Celtic mythology as the symbol of Medb, a fierce goddess-queen in Irish folklore, or Queen Mab, the queen of the fairies in British stories. She had a bird and a squirrel on her shoulders and was believed to be fond of mischief." (http://www.wildwoodtrust.org.uk/files/ks2-myths-legends.pdf). It was hard to imagine these two little squirrels, as they came over to us unsteady on their feet as mischeif makers or fierce, they were small and vulnerable, seeming so relieved to be warm and safe, just curling up and sleeping as soon as we made them a t shirt nest. http://www.greenwoodwildlife.org/wildlife-emergency/i-found-an-animal/found-a-mammal/found-a-squirrel/ |
AuthorBeth Hoyes - Art Psychotherapist, Artist and Writer Archives
June 2020
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